An effective clean-in-place (CIP) system is one of the most cost-efficient and time-saving tools for any business in the manufacturing industry. Not only can a well-designed CIP system enhance product safety and sanitation, but it can also streamline the cleaning process and minimise downtime.
If you’re thinking about investing in a CIP system for your manufacturing plant, this guide outlines how to best design an effective clean-in-place system, using clean-in-place guidelines as a framework to suggest essential design tips and considerations.
Typical CIP processes
While different industries will develop and employ their own CIP systems, most CIP cycles follow a similar set of operations:
1. Firstly, a pre-rinse removes residue and large debris.
2. A detergent cleans with caustic detergent, then extracts attached dirt and soiling.
3. Another rinse removes dirt and detergent.
4. Acid cleaning (optional) then removes alkaline residue and scaling.
5. Another rinse removes the acidic cleaning solution.
6. Disinfection with chemical or heat treatment then sanitises the equipment.
7. A final rinse fully removes chemical traces and prevents contamination.
Design considerations for CIP
There are a few essential design considerations worth thinking about when designing an effective CIP system for a manufacturing facility.
What are your facility’s specific sanitation needs?
With no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to sanitation, it’s important to consider the specific sanitation needs of your facility. For example, a company working in food and beverage production may require a longer wash sequence if they’re producing something with high levels of sweeteners and artificial colours, in order to comply with statutory hygiene recommendations. Identifying what sort of substance is being cleaned within a CIP system is crucial during the design stage.
How will you balance system design and production schedules?
Installing a new CIP system can affect a facility’s production schedule. It’s important to consider how big your CIP system will be and what this means for your current production line. The size of a CIP system includes the capacity of the tanks, the number of process lines that can be cleaned simultaneously, the frequency at which these lines need to be cleaned, and the types of chemicals needed for the job. It’s also crucial to consider any changeover processes required in your CIP planning.
How will you prevent cross-contamination?
For facilities that produce different types of food products or handle raw food materials, like dairy processing plants, preventing cross-contamination is an important part of the manufacturing process.
Many facilities install separate CIP systems for raw production and RTE areas to mitigate the risk of cross-contamination. In general, an effective CIP cycle will remove hazardous contaminants from the equipment and eliminate remnants of previous product batches. This is crucial in preventing the spread of allergens to other parts of the processing facility.
Can you reduce your water usage?
By introducing product recovery methods into your CIP system, you can increase your product yield while significantly reducing rinsing times and water usage. One good way to do this is through pigging; by pushing a pressurised plug through the line, you can push out any residual product and collect it for reprocessing or disposal. Introducing a recovery tank to reuse the CIP cycle’s final rinse can also help you save water resources.
How can you ensure adequate flow and drainage?
Inadequately sized drainage on clean-in-place systems is common, particularly when facilities are cleaning multiple circuits at once. For an effective CIP process, field drains must be routed to a properly sized hub or floor drain to minimise the risk of flooding or plant operators getting sprayed with chemicals or water during the cycle. Turbulent flow will also ensure optimal cleaning within the facility, which can be achieved by considering pipe size when selecting your flow rate.
Are there any spatial limitations to consider?
The layout of your facility can affect your CIP design. For example, some plants have one centralised CIP system joined to multiple locations with many circuits, while others have several smaller systems that are spread out across the facility. Spatial limitations and the piping of the facility can impact CIP design; however, the most cost-efficient design is usually one single, central CIP system that feeds the rest of the plant.
Are your cleaning solutions and pipe configurations compatible?
Some polymers that are present in process equipment and piping systems can be damaged by certain chemicals, such as elastomers.
If you’re using a harsher cleaning solution in your CIP cycle, you might need to change your piping or elastomer to make it compatible. Checking this compatibility is an important part of designing a CIP system and will prevent any hold-ups when it finally comes to development.
At S4 Engineering, we supply efficient and high-quality CIP systems for fast and hygienic cleaning of plant equipment, with minimal use of chemicals, energy, and water. Our CIP systems have been designed not only to improve sustainability – but also to keep operating costs to a minimum. To find out more, contact S4 Engineering today.
